


Snowy Night

by orphan_account



Series: Vampire AU [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Consensual Biting, M/M, yes Deniss was adopted by Steph and Chris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 02:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19820554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Deniss was lost in the Alps, and Chris found him.Set 10 years after 'Des Folies'.





	Snowy Night

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a native speaker of English, and all mistakes are mine. Please don't hesitate to tell me if you spot any mistakes!  
> The fic is completely fictional.  
> The castle where Chris and Steph live is based on Chateau de Chillon in Montreux, Switzerland.

“Deniss, is this your name?” The older vampire carried the young boy on his back while speaking to him, “Don’t sleep. I know you’re tired, but don’t. Tell me where you’re from?”  
It’s really cold in the winter here. Deniss thought, whoever told him that vampires aren’t afraid of cold weather is a liar. And he couldn’t even find a shelter in the mountains. He’s not even thinking about food.  
“I…I can’t remember clearly. Somewhere from East.” Deniss murmured, “I couldn’t find my tribe…can’t find them anymore. Why is it snowing here? They’ve told me, back my home is the coldest…..It…no….” he was dozing off.  
“Deniss!” Chris pinched his thigh, “Wake up. Were you converted recently? Or was it a long time ago?”  
“Ouch.” The boy hissed, “How recent…is recent? I still don’t know the timescale of vampires. What’s ‘converted’? ”  
Chris thought about his description. Somewhere in the east. Coldest. Was he from Russia?  
“So you weren’t a human before?” Chris asked him, “From your first memory, you were living as a vampire?”  
“…No, I don’t remember being a human. The first thing I remembered…which might help…the humans were fighting a huge war….And there were flags….humans coming in to the woods and….we had to leave.”  
Chris still couldn’t figure out how old he is. It sounded a little bit like the Second World War, but everything was too vague. “And your tribe? Tell me about it.”  
Deniss searched the mess in his brain. It was still too cold for it to function, and he was starving. It was difficult to find anything alive in the winter, let alone good blood source. “I can’t remember the original tribe…we moved, got lost, everyone probably went into different local tribes…or…fell into the Long Sleep. This one kicked me out last summer. I’ve been on my own since then.”  
Chris saw the car park not far away. “Have you learned to hunt before that?”  
Deniss nodded, “I…I have. But I don’t know the tricks. Most of the time, I got rabbits, cats, dogs or so. Cold-blooded animals taste terrible….but in the winter….it’s hard.”  
He didn’t mention humans.  
Switzerland is one of the countries where the Treaty of Lausanne was strictly adhered to. There were clear borders for different species, and any intelligent species that attack humans or, basically any other intelligent species, could be taken down by the Multi-Species Crisis First Responder group. Chris knew it well, because his partner, personally and professionally, was a human First Responder. The only ‘legal’ attack was when someone trespasses into the land of other species, but it was becoming rarer in the recent years for humans.  
Chris put the young vampire onto the backseat of his car and drove away from the mountains. He needed to get home as soon as possible.

He pulled over and carried Deniss across a wooden bridge, into the castle on the lake. It was late now, and Stéphane would be on call tomorrow, which means that he might be asleep in the bedroom. But Deniss needed a warm bed and some food now. Chris sighed, as he really didn’t want to wake Stéphane up. No one knows what could happen and require assistance from the Responders.  
“Chris?” Stéphane was standing on top of the main staircase, in his dressing gown, “that’s…?”  
Chris looked up. His partner was clearly woken up just now, judging from his ruffled hair and sleepy voice. “I found him near Vevey, almost freezing and starving to death, I mean, Long Sleep. Do we still have any slow-release formula in the fridge?”  
Stéphane helped him to put Deniss on their bed, “I’m not sure, although I can’t remember seeing it for some time. I’ll go and see.”  
Stéphane ran down to the kitchen, and Chris found a new towel in the wardrobe to wipe Deniss’s hair dry. There was some air-conditioning in his car, and all the snow, probably even ice on the young vampire, had melted.  
Stéphane ran upstairs again in a few minutes with two plastic bags of red liquid. “We don’t have any special formula, only the regular ones. Does it work?”  
Chris hesitated. “I don’t know how long he hasn’t eat…drink, and if his system can still process this kind. Can you give him some warm water? I’ll go to the 24-hour pharmacy nearby to pick some up.”  
Stéphane stopped him. “The one in Montreux doesn’t sell slow-release. You’ll have to drive to Geneva to find a pharmacy, in this hour.”  
Chris stared at his partner. “How do you know? You can’t go to the vampire counter to ask for synthetic blood, can you?”  
Stéphane knelt down beside the bed and looked at Deniss. ‘As pale as a vampire’ was not an appropriate description, since he actually was one; but he was clearly not in a good condition. “There are vampires in the Responders. Liza told me. She even complained the ‘hiking pack’ instant blood powder is the worst thing she had ever had in the entire world. She’d rather catch frogs.” Stéphane looked up at Chris, “Do you think fresh blood would work?”  
Chris glanced at his blood bags, “It has nothing to do with manufacture date. It’s about the size of…what is it called? Micellar droplets?”  
“No,” Stéphane tried to touch the young vampire’s face, “I mean fresh human blood. My blood.”  
Even though Deniss was only half-conscious, he could smell warm-blooded animals. His instincts were telling him to go after it and catch it, but he’s too weak to even sit up, let alone chase one. He knew there was someone talking, but he couldn’t understand anything.  
“You’ve had mine when you didn’t drink for quite a long time. Of course it wasn’t as bad as now, but if it might work, why don’t we try?” Stéphane took off the right sleeve of his dressing gown, “I know I can’t give much, but should be sufficient to at least revive him.”  
“You’re on call tomorrow.” Chris reminded him, “And unlikely to have a good night’s sleep, if Deniss sleeps in the bedroom tonight. You’ll have to sleep in the study with a blanket.”  
Stéphane pulled down his nightshirt, exposed his right shoulder and neck. “What I said ten years ago is still valid. I know I’m putting my own life at risk, but he may go into Long Sleep if I don’t. I’m fully conscious and it’s my own will. Keep an eye on him.”  
Stéphane lowered his upper body, brushed his hair away to one side and placed his bare shoulder above Deniss’s lips. “Deniss,” he whispered near the young vampire’s ear, “Deniss. Bite me.”  
Deniss could feel the warm-blooded creature is moving closer to him. It couldn’t be real. I had not seen anything in the past week. It’s warmer than before, am I dreaming? And did it say ‘bite me’…? No, Animals don’t speak the language I know. It has to be a human…but I can’t attack….No, it’s my dream. Deniss thought, a good dream before finally sleeping. The snowy mountain is beautiful, probably it’s a good place to rest. And this place even gives me the best illusion, with the sweet blood of a human…  
His fangs grew longer, and the young vampire pierced Stéphane’s skin and vein on the nape of his neck.  
It’s more painful than Chris’s bites, Stéphane squeezed his eyes shut. The boy probably had never had a human, and he’s only half conscious.  
Deniss felt even warmer than before. It felt real, as if he was actually having some food, sweet and fragrant. He was no longer trembling, and he finally had the strength to open his eyes.  
I’m in a room? Deniss looked around, the world still spinning. A beautiful room, with….curtains? Am I on a bed? Wait, am I actually drinking….  
“Deniss.” Chris said in a low but almost authoritarian voice, “Stop.”  
Deniss shivered as he felt some immense pressure on him. That was a voice of another vampire, probably someone high in the social hierarchy. Not every vampire could produce such an effect on his fellow men. The pressure even made his fangs shrink back to their normal size.  
“You’re frightening him.” Stéphane tried to support himself with both arms and stand up, but he’s starting to feel dizzy because of loss of blood.  
Deniss couldn’t decipher the situation now. He remembered being put into some moving thing, the one others called a ‘car’. So he must be in the humans’ territory. The man standing was probably the one who spoke just now, a vampire. And there was a human kneeling near the bed, still bleeding from the two wounds punched by….  
By my fangs. Deniss inhaled sharply. I’ve attacked a human. In humans’ territory…but why is there another vampire? Where am I?  
“Have some good sleep, Deniss.” The vampire knelt down behind the human, kissed and licked his wounds to stop it from bleeding and scooped him up in both arms, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”  
There were so many things going on in Deniss’s brain, but he couldn’t find a lead. Exhaustion rapidly lured him to sound sleep.

Deniss still couldn’t understand anything when he woke up the next morning.  
So, some vampire rescued me from the mountains and brought me here. I vaguely remembered seeing a castle, if it wasn’t another illusion. A warm bed. A human, in a vampire’s castle.  
Is it not humans’ territory? Others have told me that it’s illegal to keep a human at home for food outside our woods. But do vampires drive cars in our own land?  
Was that person actually food? I heard him saying ‘bite me’ when I was half-conscious, and ‘you’re frightening him’ when I was revived. I’ve seen the tribe leaders having humans, those who didn’t bother to look at the border sign and trespassed. They were frightened, invariably struggled and begged for mercy. But that one didn’t. His voice was kind of shaky when bitten, but there was hardly any fear. The vampire held him in both arms and kissed him. You don’t treat your food like this.  
There were three knocks on the door, and the human entered with a lantern in his hand. “Hi, Deniss.” He smiled, “Are you feeling better?”  
The instincts in Deniss’s body shouted ‘bite him’, but he didn’t dare to. He still remembered the pressure last night when the other vampire spoke. He finally had a chance to look at the human. He looked not too old, probably in his thirties, according to human’s timescale. His face and lips were still a little bit pale, but he looked very relaxed. Not like any food item he had seen before.  
“Yes….”Deniss answered, not knowing what to say or to do. How can a human not be afraid of vampires? Doesn’t he know that vampires can kill him in less than an hour?  
“Is the curtain alright? Chris wasn’t that afraid of sunlight, so we weren’t too concerned about how good it shields light. Are you sensitive to it? Any burning sensations on the skin?” The human’s voice was gentle and soft, even soothing.  
“It’s fine.” Deniss tried to sit up as he collected his strength, “I think I might be able to walk a bit. Vampires recover quickly from starvation. Is..what did you say? Chris? The one who took me back last night? I have to thank him.”  
The human helped him to stand, supported him while they went down stairs. “We stay here. He told me you have nowhere to go, and you can stay here as well if you wish to, at least for the winter. There are some synthetic blood packs in the kitchen fridge, just help yourself. Chris said it’s not as good as actual blood, but there’s hardly any choice.” He made a funny face, “Others told me it’s better than cats, if you need any more reference points.”  
He couldn’t be food. Deniss made a conclusion. Is he a pet then? It’s not unheard of that some noble families in the old times keep humans for pets. Of course they were bitten quite regularly for blood, but never so much as to cause deaths. The nobility emphasizes on quality indulgence on a small quantity. And Chris kissed his wounds to stop bleeding, which matches the tales.  
“Bonjour.” The human greeted the vampire in the kitchen happily, “It seems that Deniss is much better.”  
Deniss saw the vampire near the cooker, and something was sizzling in the pan.  
“Bonjour. Your breakfast is almost ready. And Deniss,” Chris smiled, “nice to meet you. I hadn’t a chance to greet you yesterday.”  
“Nice to meet you….” Deniss’s voice trailed off. Why is he cooking? Vampires don’t eat cooked food. For the human? “And thank you for saving me yesterday.”  
Chris took out the small plastic bag of red liquid from warm water and handed it to Deniss, “I didn’t do much. Stéphane saved you with his blood, he’s the one you should thank. But I doubt it was sufficient, since you almost starved to death, I mean, Long Sleep. Here’s some synthetic blood. Not as good as actual ones, but, well.” He shrugged, “Enough to keep us alive.”  
‘Stéphane’ must be the human’s name. Deniss held the bag in both hands, looking at them chatting and humming to some music. But it’s strange to say ‘thank you’ to a pet.  
Stéphane sat down with them on the dining table with his egg toast and coffee, probably prepared by Chris. Deniss inserted the straw in to the bag and sipped the fluid. It’s definitely not as good as what he had last night, but much better than what he had in the past week, or maybe the past month. It’s a wise idea to keep a human at home and only have small amounts each time, he thought.  
Keeping humans. Deniss suddenly realized he hadn’t asked where he is now.  
“Chris..? Can I address you with it?” Deniss asked. If the human, Stéphane, could say his name, probably he wasn’t the type of vampires in the stories who requires others to address him with ‘Sir’.  
“Sure.” Chris smiled, “Anything you want to ask? I know there’s probably a ton of them.”  
Deniss peeked at Stéphane. He was still eating his toast. “Um, yes. Where are we? Are we still in our territory?”  
Chris tapped his fingers casually on the table, “No, it’s humans’. In other words, Stéphane’s.”  
“You make it sounds like I’m some sort of monarch.” Stéphane protested, “Which is not only untrue, but also inappropriate.”  
“But others told me that you can’t keep a human as food, or pet, or whatever, under the Treaty of Lausanne. Is it not true? Has it been..terminated?” Deniss had no idea why the human could speak without permission.  
Stéphane laughed and almost chocked on his coffee. “See, I told you last night that this conversation would come. It’s your job to explain.”  
Chris rolled his eyes at Stéphane. “No, the Treaty is still valid. And as long as I’m alive, I’ll make every effort to make sure it’s adhered to, at least in the country I’m living. Stéphane is not food, neither is he a pet. He’s….” Chris hesitated to find a suitable word, “my partner.”  
Stéphane had finished his breakfast and put the dishes into the dishwasher.  
“Can I….talk to you?” Deniss asked Chris, “I mean, in private.” Discussing human-vampire relationship might not be the best idea when a human is present.  
Chris turned to look at Stéphane, and the human nodded. “Get some more sleep then,” Chris said, “I don’t think you slept well with only a sleeping bag on the floor last night.”  
Chris was clearly asking the human’s opinion. Deniss felt somewhat uncomfortable, as he’s not used to it. He was told, from a young age, that humans are the same as any other animals. They’re just the cleverer type of food. You don’t talk to food, let alone treating them like what Chris did.

“So.” Chris sat down across the table with Deniss, “I believe that you’ve not actually read the Treaty?”  
“No.” Deniss shooked his head, “I’ve heard some of it. I know there’re borders, I know that we’re not supposed to attack humans in their land. That’s… pretty much it.”  
Chris sighed. “Alright. I know it’s very unpopular in the woods. It’s..basically about mutual non-invasive matters between intelligent species, vampires, human, werewolfs, nymphs, zombies, although we don’t have zombies’ land here in Switzerland. The most important thing is probably don’t attack any human here. If you register to stay in human’s land, you can get some synthetic blood from the pharmacies, over the vampire’s counter, which should be enough for survival.”  
“The human, I mean, Stéphane?” Deniss asked, “Is it an exception? Like, you stay in a castle and your voice last night...If I’m not wrong, I believe you’re a descendant of some noble family? Are you allowed to…?”  
“There’re no exceptions.” Chris stared at Deniss sternly, “He offered his blood out of his own free will. And it has nothing to do with nobility. I know some traditions are still preserved in the woods, but not here.”  
Deniss looked extremely confused. “No, wait, why would a human willingly…um, let us bite him? I don’t get it. And he doesn’t appear to be afraid of us, even after I bit him last night.”  
Chris shrugged. “I didn’t get it as well ten years ago, when he saved me. That’s just…Stéphane being Stéphane. Probably because he believes that he doesn’t have to be afraid of other species. He’s a miracle.”  
The answer didn’t help Deniss to clarify anything. “I still have no idea how everything works here. Does the Treaty explain anything? I don’t want to get into trouble anymore.”  
Chris nodded. “Yes, but the Treaty itself can be very hard to read. It was drafted and passed a hundred years ago, with horrible wording and outdated language. Plus there’re thirty-four amendments to the main treaty and more than ten supplementary Acts. I’ll suggest that you read the booklet ‘Moving in with the Humans’, written by Yuna Kim. She’s a nymph from Asia, but everything applies to a vampire here. There’s a copy in our study on the second floor, with some additional comments which you may find useful or necessary. If you don’t understand anything, I’m more than happy to help.”  
“Why do you know all that?” Deniss was surprised by how much Chris said about the Treaty, “Have you read all that? Are you some sort of…what’s the term in human’s land, law…lawer?”  
Chris smiled, “You mean ‘lawyer’? I’m not. However, I’ve read every single document about the Treaty, and I helped to draft more than eighty percent of them. I can say I’m kind of an expert on it.”  
Someone who has drafted the Treaty. Deniss didn’t feel that he’s in a real world anymore.  
“Chris?” Stéphane shouted outside the wooden door, “Sorry to disturb you. Liza paged me and I have to go, there’s an incident at Gruyeres. I’ll probably not be back until dinner time. Is the key for our car in the doorway?”  
Chris stood up and ran to open the door. “Are you alright? I can give you a lift there if you’re..” he looked at Stéphane’s right shoulder. Deniss remembered piercing his skin there.  
“I’m fine. If I can’t drive, surely I’m unfit for a call. I’ll ask a colleague as a substitute instead of risking it.”  
Deniss almost couldn’t recognize Stéphane as the human last night and earlier this morning. He was so soft and gentle in his pajamas and lounge wear, but looked extremely sharp and alert now in suit jacket and tie. It’s impossible to mistakenly take him as a pet if he showed up in the bedroom this morning like this.  
“Take care.” Chris hugged him and kissed him on the forehead, “Bring some lunch.”  
Stéphane was slightly shorter than Chris, and he had to stand on tip-toes to return the embrace. “Liza got me a sandwich.”  
Deniss was sure that he saw a silvery pistol under Stéphane’s suit jacket. It was quite horrifying. He was told by the elderly that all the blood hunters in the old times carried silvery pistols with silver bullets in them, which could kill a normal vampire with little difficulty, and fatally injure a descendant of noble families.  
The human was carrying a silvery pistol.  
Stéphane had run down the stairs and past the wooden bridge before Deniss could react.  
“Chris!” Deniss almost screamed, “Why is he…why is there a pistol?”  
Chris walked back and sat down with Deniss. “He’s a Crisis First Responder. Of course it’s legal for him to carry it.”  
“No, I’m not asking about whether it’s legal.”Deniss’s eyes were filled with horror, “It’s a silvery pistol! I mean, I understand that the Treaty treats humans and every other species as equals, and I totally understand if you’re treating him like, like one of our own. But he can kill you with it! And he’s staying with you, while in possession of a pistol!”  
Chris patted the young vampire’s shoulder, “Relax. I know. But think about that, theoretically, I can kill him within minutes if I wish to. I don’t even need a pistol.”  
Deniss nodded, “Yes?”  
“So why can’t he carry it?” Chris said, “Both of us would have died more than a thousand times if we want to kill each other. But we are alive.”


End file.
